Hi All - Well I just couldn't figure out why my accuracy was so bad on my M38 Bodyguard until I went to give it a good cleaning. I noticed the barrel looked like a smooth bore. I used a chore boy on a bore brush with solvent and I think the lead won...Any tips on how can I get lead out of the barrel when it is fully caked into the rifling? Some kind of new chemical warfare perhaps? I'm not sure a Lewis Lead Remover would do much better.....Any tips? Thanks!

Zocko

Attached Images

M38.jpg (45.6 KB, 441 views)

When I have had serious fouling, brass brushes, outers crud cutter, and hoppes solvents has been pretty effective in getting the built up residue out. It takes patience and time, but seems to work. One question, are you using plain lead bullets? I almost always shoot jacketed rounds and have never had a barrel fouled to extent you are experiencing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Take a new bronze bore brush, wrap 2 or 3 single strands of a Chore Boy copper scrub pad around it, dip it in Crud Cutter, #9, or whatever other solvent works for you, then add an approximately equal amount of elbow grease, and you should have lead flakes scattering all over the newspaper that covers your bench. Call us back if that doesn't get it.

Larry

What leading? The rifling is perfectly well defined. Hoppe's, or any other bore solvent, a new bore brush and 30-40 strokes will easily take care of the little bit of fouling you may have.

I've used a Lewis Lead Remover for years, and it does work.

__________________
So many S&W's, so few funds!!

For serious leading, we used mercury in the old days. Here's a link talking about it.

Liquid Mercury lead removal

It's hard to tell from a pic, but it looks more like possible light pitting than leading.
I have removed leading with choreboy many times and it gets the job done.
don't forget to check the cylinder for leading as well.

As a side note, I bought a used model 14 that had some minor pitting near the end of the bore. I didn't find it until I got it home. I figured accuracy would be hopeless and it would become a project gun. I tested and I had no accuracy issues at 40 yards. I would have to say it didn't hurt a thing.

Yeah, I know I have shot a few rounds of wad cutters through it, but I think it was this way when I bought it as the accuracy has always been poor. Once I saw the buildup I bought jacketed stuff, but I hesitate to shoot it with all the fouling. I'll soak it and scrub it a few more times. Thanks for the assist!

Zocko

I doubt that the very slight leading I see in that barrel would make any difference in inherent accuracy at M38 ranges.

In a bench rest rifle shooting at 100+ yards, it might make a difference.

The j frames take a lot of work to learn to shoot well.

I suspect your accuracy will improve as you learn the gun.

By the way, the M38 is the best pocket pistol ever made in my opinion. They do take some work to master.

Yes, you want to get the lead out of the bore before you shoot jacketed bullets in it. Folks used to say that a few jacketed bullets would clean lead fouling out of a barrel but most know now it just smooths out the lead. It probably raises pressures some, which may or may not matter.

The copper Chore Boy strands wrapped around a brush should work. I used a similar product called Big .45 Frontier Metal Cleaner. Probably about the same as Chore Boy but repackaged for gun cranks to squeeze a few more bucks out of the gullible. Like lebomm said, you will see flakes of lead on your newspaper coming out the muzzle as you scrub. Does wonders on fouled chambers and external rust, too.

You picked out a classic snubby. Congratulations.

A 50/50 mixture of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide dissolves lead. It doesn't hurt steel. I DON'T KNOW about a blued finish. Proceed at your own risk.

I plug the chamber on auto barrels, stand them in a vice, fill them up and let them soak for 15 minutes.

Ed

Skip the mercury which is highly toxic and the vinegar/hydrogen peroxide solution which will remove bluing and can etch the bore. Use a Lewis Lead Remover or bore brush & bronze Chore Boy. Both are very effective. I, for the life of me, do not understand why anybody would fool around with toxic heavy metals or potentially damaging concoctions when safe, effective alternative are available readily.

Bruce

The best way to remove hard lead fouling is Mercury.
It is quick and easy, but it carries with it some risk.
You you can follow some simple safety instructions, it can be done very easily.
You need to make sure that at no time the Mercury can come in contact you any part of your body, and you work over a porcine or glass it will work just fine.
Use duct tape to cover the end of the barrel, pour a small amount into the other end, cover that end with duct tape. Now with heavy rubber gloves (Ones made for cleaning solvent) hold the tape in place, and shake the barrel to get the Mercury around to 1 minute. Then remove the tape off one end and pour it back into the container.
Be sure to do this in an open air area and do wear a filter mask.
The lead will be gone, now clean the barrel normally.

lastly, all the tape and cleaning patches will need to be placed into a heavy freezer bag and turned in to your local waste disposal as toxic waste.

You are greatly over-exaggerating the hazards of Mercury! You obviously don't know how pervasive Mercury is. It is contained in position sensitive switches, "silent" light switches, fluorescent light tubes, and thermostats. All of these are found in the home.

The only thing I will give you is it is probably wise to wear some form of gloves, but typical surgical gloves and disposable "Nitrile" gloves are more than adequate. Why do you recommend a mask? Mercury does not give off fumes at normal temperatures.

Now, how is Mercury used? our suggestion of shaking the barrel with the Mercury in it is ridiculous! Use a new, clean, bronze bore brush to clean and abrade the surface of the leading and expose clean, bare metal. Pour a 1/2 teaspoon of Mercury into the barrel after sealing one end, duct tape does work well. While sealing off both ends of the barrel simply tip it back and forth a few times to coat the leading with Mercury. Pour it off back into the container then let the barrel sit for several minutes to an hour or so, giving the time for the Mercury to amalgamate the Lead. Then, this is important(!) using a cleaning jag or loop with a tight patch simply push the patch through the bore, which will take the amalgamated Lead with it. DO NOT use a bore brush! If you do, when the bristles spring out of the barrel they will spray droplets of Mercury all over the place! The Mercury will also amalgamate with the Copper in the Bronze and destroy the brush in short order!

If you wear Gold jewelry you must be very careful to not expose it to the Mercury. It has to touch the Gold, but it will damage the Gold!

Finally, "....all the tape and cleaning patches will need to be placed into a heavy freezer bag and turned in to your local waste disposal as toxic waste." Get serious! There will be little more Mercury residue that what is contained in a fluorescent light tube! And a large portion of that will be Lead! Do you take these to a toxic waste disposal site, or just throw them away in the garbage? We both know the answer to this!

Do you know what is in the Silver Amalgam fillings in your teeth????

You are propagating the MYTH about the toxicity of Mercury, stop it! This is the same "Chicken Little" attitude that has allowed the liberals to demonize Lead, Ozone, Mercury, Radon, until many of the public are scared to death of the environment we have lived in for millenia!

If the OP thinks that that is smooth bore or smoothed out due to excessive leading and a few rounds of wad cutters would do that much.... I have a feeling the issue is a new shooter and not the gun.



Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

l don't see any lead..Put a little Flitz on a patch and giver
a few strokes. All shiny n new

Lewis Lead Remover will get any lead out of the barrel and the forcing cone as well. Available from Brownells in multiple calibers.

Sometimes there is a simple, effective, and inexpensive solution. This is one of those times.

I see the rifling plainly. That does not look so bad to me. I have definitely had worse.

Kroil is supposed to creep under crud

Really??

While I'm not a big fan of the EPA, I think they got it right on Mercury.

As far as pressure switches and thermostats, to my knowledge they quit using mercury in those applications decades ago for a good reason. Are some still in service-no doubt about it. I also believe that mercury containing dental filling materials are a thing of the fairly distant past. I could be in error. It's happened before and will happen again but in this case, I don't think so.

I still stand by my original statement regarding the use of mercury and vinegar/hydrogen peroxide. Too many possible issues for too little reward.

Bruce

Hi there.
Being a ASE mastertech, I deal with Mercury switch's and such all the time, and many of the manufactures have been forced to recall them and replace them. It is not that it is all that hard to work with, it is dealing with the government run EPA stuff that goes with it. In my state, the DEQ and waste disposal will not let you toss out florescent because of mercury in them, you have to dispose of them through a hazardous waste handler.
Yes, I was erroring way on the side of safety here, but I do not know where the poster here lives, or what his local environmental laws and requirements are.
The facemask and eye protection is to prevent it from getting into his system in case the tape leaks and some of it comes out while he is shaking it.

A few things that I have done seem to help. 1st, I tend to use a larger caliber brush. I have used JB Bore paste. Flitz. Cut a lead remover cloth into a few patches and work them through. I only have 1 gun that leads badly....625JM. Now it gets only plated bullets. Bob

After you get the lead out make sure you're loading the proper sized bullets to prevent future leading. Look for .358" cast bullets for a .38 spl. .357" bullets tend to lead quite a bit more than those sized .001" over bore. Plug the bore on one end and fill it with Hoppes #9. Let it soak overnight and then brush the hell out of it. It will get the lead out without harming the steel.

may i please angle this thread a bit?
i'm new to centerfires n i would prefer to not have to start a thread like this.
so, how can i avoid leading in the first place?
i can get jacketed bullets but my new m15 likes wadcutters best.

__________________
susie

I,ve been using Hoppes elite and it works really fast. I also bought another brush, one for dry brushing and one for wet brushing. cuts thru it fast. I also fire a few jacketed after the lead, pulls some lead out

susie....like I just said.****n a few jacketed ones when your done...gets some of it out

Most factory lead wadcutters are cast or swaged of relatively soft lead so if your bore is even slightly rough inside they will lead. There are basically three ways to avoid leading. First is after a good cleaning wrap a patch around an old bore brush and smear it up with either Iosso bore paste or Flitz metal polish. Give it 25 or so strokes through the bore and you'll notice it has smoothed out and brightened up somewhat. The other two are shooting wadcutters sized .001" over the bore size (.358" cast instead of the .357 you'd normally shoot in a jacketed bullet) to help prevent gas cutting and leading from the cutting. Lastly, keep the velocities under about 1,000fps. Shooting those soft wadcutters will lead the bore regardless, but if you clean every time you shoot it won't build up to the point of ever being an issue.